What To Know About All These Different Types Of Waters

Nicki Miller08/29/2017

Instead of turning on the tap, here are some souped-up versions of H2O.

What’s in Your Water?

Water is essential. No surprise there, right? For runners in the summer though, it’s even more important to pay attention to hydration. Coach Eric Orton gives his mountain-running campers this advice: Drink today for tomorrow’s run.

But sometimes you don’t want to simply drink the plain stuff from a faucet. The nutrition industry has caught on to our obsession with both water for healthy living—and trying different liquids to surprise our palates. Here is just a taste of the new and different “waters” on the market. They may or may not taste like H2O, but they all have something extra.

Alkaline

Flow is Canadian spring water that naturally includes electrolytes and an alkaline pH. It simply tastes like the usual, but some waters can be more acidic. $2 for 1 liter,flowwater.com

Cactus

Caliwater is a plant-based water from prickly pear cacti, which is rife with antioxidants as well as less calories and sugar than coconut water. In plain, peach and berry flavors, this water is also marketed to help hangovers. $22 for a 12-pack, amazon.com

Caffeine

Avitae is purified water with 90mg of caffeine, which is comparable to a cup of coffee, and it comes plain or in a variety of flavors, such as tangerine, blackberry and strawberry-guava. Since caffeine is
a proven performance enhancer, this may be just what you need to hydrate and energize at once.$21 for 12-pack, amazon.com

Coconut

Harvest Bay is capitalizing on the coconut water craze with plain as well as flavored options–pineapple, pomegranate and orange-mango—and you can buy it in single servings or larger containers to keep in the fridge for sipping or making smoothies. $26 for 12-pack, amazon.com

Hydrogen

HFactor is water that’s infused with hydrogen, and there is research that shows this is good for performance, recovery, circulation and even allergies. One caution: You do need to drink within 30 minutes of opening to get the most added hydrogen—this is why it’s not in a more conventional plastic or glass bottle, which would let the H2 escape. $18 for 6-pack, amazon.com

Maple

DrinkMaple is basically sap from maple trees that hasn’t been boiled down into maple syrup. It boasts 46 natural nutrients, including calcium and iron, and half the sugar of coconut water. $20 for 6-pack, drinkmaple.com

Melon

WTRMLN WTR is a cleverly spelled cold-pressed juice from watermelons that comes in different flavor variations besides plain, such as ginger, lime and cherry. Research has shown watermelon juice can improve recovery after exercises and it’s loaded with potassium. $45 for 12-pack, wtrmlnwtr.com

Minerals

Blk. is black water from the minerals in the earth’s soil, which means added minerals, electrolytes, antioxidants, alkalinity and more. It tastes remarkably like regular water. $2, getblk.com

Turmeric

TuMe Sport has the benefit of turmeric, which is natural anti-inflammatory because of the antioxidant curcumin. The spicy flavor is mixed with berry, citrus, mango or pomegranate. $32 for 12-pack, amazon.com